Texas Instruments has agreed to purchase rival National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion, a deal would combine two of the world's largest chip makers.
TI said the pact would expand its portfolio of analog chips, processors that create a bridge between the worlds of analog and digital. Whereas digital chips can only handle 1s and …

Must be

off the radar

Even a decade ago no-one would have dared to imagine this. Now the importance of the component industry is lost in the glare from Intel, Apple, et.al, and the politicians are less likely to cut up rough.

To their eternal shame.

This deal is as significant as M$/Nokia as signalling the decline of the west. Lights out, lads.

complaint and company impressions

Did you think we didn't know that? Furthermore, like was said above, digital chips can be characterized as analog differential comparators: comparing the input vs a threshold.

My EE impression of TI, gathered from talking with numerous laid off TI employees, is a company without a focus. I've seen that they have the best options for IEEE 1394 chips and 74LS04 in DIP packages. I don't imagine they make a whole lot of money on either of those. And lets not mention the shame that is their calculator line.

National, though, has some products that really make an engineer's life easier. Their Simple Switchers are easy to design with. For me they also have some very interesting ADC chips that I would love to get into a research project some day. They seem more inovative to the casual observer engineer.

"What is TI doing different"

TI has money because.....

....their legal department has historically been very good at making other people pay them for violating their patents. At one time their income from law suits and licensing was a considerable portion of their total revenue. I doubt this leopard has changed its spots.